Bird
Trips with a Web Page and
Rio Grande Valley Birds |
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Bird
Lists *
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| April 05 | El Cielo, Cd Monte, El Salto |
| Aug 06 | Cd Victoria, Cd Mante, Gomez Farias and El Cielo |
| Feb 2007 |
Cd Mante, Gomez Farias, El Cielo, La Florida, El Naciemento, El Naranjo, and El Salto * |
| Plan a custom trip for yourself or group by clicking here for details. | |
Brownsville, Texas
El Cielo,
Gomez Farias, Cd Mante, Boca
Toma,
El Naciemento, and La Florida, March 2007
Our four day three night trip started out from Laguna Vista Bed and Breakfast with Vernon and Loris at 6:15AM and Rio RV Park with Charles and Jon about 7:30AM Thursday morning March 8th, 2007. We crossed Wednesday for Mexican Visas and to get some dollars changed to pesos. Bird counting started at a lake near the Mexican Customs office.
A short stop at Rio Corona just outside of Cd Victoria then on to Gomez Farias and El Cielo with a 1:45PM arrival. The first day with travel ending in birds like Altamira Yellow-throat, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, and Common Yellowthroat along with Groove-billed Ani and Mask Tityra just out of Gomez Farias. The second day brought us the Sungrebe, Boat-billed Heron, and Bare-throated Tiger Herson and more at Boca Toma. Day three was special with the Tamaulipas Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Flame-colored Tanager, to name a few up to Alta Cima in the El Cielo Biosphere. Day Four's exciting birds were Northern Potoo, Blue-crowned Motmot, Groove-billed Ani, Roadside Hawk, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl just out of El Naciemento and La Florida. See a complete list at the end of this page.
That first evening we reviewed the days list over looking a valley with our favorite beverages, melted cheese, and guacamole. A grilled chicken breast with fries and steamed vegatibles at Casa de Piedras dinning room in Gomez Farias ended our day.
Our Guide, Ricardo
Jimenez, exceeded the groups expectations as I expected. He knew where
the birds were and could point them out in his friendly
broken English. He was able to keep their binoculars glued to their eyes.
They saw and I photo graphed the only Altimira Yellowthroat image on
the Internet. This is a rare bird we saw thanks to Ricardo's birding
and knowledge of the area.
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| Altamira Yellowthroat |
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A little traveled
back road from left to right Laures and Ricardo then Vernon, Jon and Charles |
La Florida |
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Rio Frio Boat Trip |
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Sungrebe |
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Boat-billed
Heron |
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| Bare-throated Tiger Heron |
El Naciemento (spring) was our first stop just after sunrise. Blue-crowned Motmot, Muscovy Duck, Squirrel Cuckoo, Bronze-winged and Lineated Woodpeckers, Social Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper we saw among others. Later we moved to La Florida for more birding from land and water.
Our lunch at La Florida was so good all wanted a return. The catfish, tilapia, and red snapper with fries, salad, and cold refresca (soda) was delicious and just the right amount to avoid the local siesta feeling. The palm frond covered roof, tropical folage, and running stream in their fish farm kept us focused on nature.
The boat trip on the Rio Frio that followed found us the Sungreb and Boat-billed Heron with pictures taken on this trip to back it up. The Sungrebe was found swimming then flew to a low lying bamboo. You can see the water drops on the Sungrebes breast plus the stripped feet in the blown up version. The Boat-billed Heron photo is the normal place they are found - peaking through the branches. Another great bird for this leg was the Amazon Kingfisher. Miguel the boat captain really tries hard to get you good looks at the birds, but speaks only Spanish.
A walk down the road at La Florida located a Bare-throated Tiger Heron on the ground and later in the tree with a photo. White-crowned Parrot in a nest was exciting. Pictures to follow for day three.
El Naciemento The Springs |
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Loris and Ricardo
looking at the Blue-crowned Motmot |
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Social Flycatcher
like a small Great Kiskadee |
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Also at El Naciemento |
Day
Three up the Mountains to Alta Cima in the Cloud Forest of the El Cielo
bio-sphere.
Got a looks at the Northern Potoo, but no pictures in focus. Focus on a camera does not work at night when it is pitch black. Breakfast to order (eggs, ham, fruite, and coffee plus fresh orange juice) was served at the appointed time by our host. Magie finished serving and then we placed our dinner and set a time. Our evening on the deck of drinks, guacamole, melted cheese, and toastodos completed the order. We departed just after 7AM with a stop on the way where we found many of the warblers on the list. Ricardo had me stop with everyone getting out at a wide spot in the road with scopes and binos. He tried finding the Orgnate Hawk Eagle for fifteen minutes with no luck. He suggested we walk ahead about 100 yards. Everyone returned to the car leaving Ricardo with his scope. He called us and pointed to a spot near the mountain's peak. A look through the scope had a bird with the familiar erect feathers on top of the head. The eagle had returned with a rodent catch for breakfast. You can see another eagle taken on a previous trip by clicking Ornate Hawk Eagle for the page it is on. A Red-tailed Hawk have us a guick perched view and then flying view. Than up the road to Alta Cima he ask us to walk up a small mountain trail. He had a Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl that would only show his back side. Can you see it without clicking for the enlarged picture? We enjoyed our usual drinks and snack while reviewing our day's list. The dinner was beef fajitas, steamed vegetables, and refried beans. We finished off the meal with homemade Flan. I returned to my room and found it with airconditioning. I have encouraged the owner to put in A/C for years and it has happened. Casa de Piedras now has a room aircondition option. When making a reservation ask for the options of avaliability and cost of A/C. I tried it out. The A/C did reduce some of the outside noise like birds including the Northern Potoo which bother some. The A/C units are portable and big enough to more than take care of a room. This is a great plus in the summer when the rooms don't cool down until late a night. A mid day nap with the birds will be more refreshing with A/C. |
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Got up at 5AM to see a new bird on the Casa de Piedras property. This was the second morning with the first getting blurred images. Jon was up with his head lite and had already located the bird on the same high stump as the morning before. I focused on a lighted wall below the roof about the same distance and it worked. The Northern Potoo gave me an interesting look plus a groaning call. The backside is all that we were allowed to see and photograph. A trip down the La Florida road found our first Least Grebe of the trip. Good looks at the Roadside Hawk, Blue-crowned Motmot, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-crowned Parrot, Green Heron, and more. The pond Ricardo wanted to visit was closed but a scope found our first Great-blue Heron for the trip plus more Northern Jacanas. Ricarded located a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl for a good look. The bars on the tail were very clear for both Pygmy Owls. A stop in Cd Victoria's Paradiso Hotel for a great lunch about 12:30PM made the 3.5 hour trip to Brownsville quiet. We returned with a 154 Species List of birds. All were experienced birders and had about 60 new species each.
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| Gomez Farias, El Cielo, El Naciemento, and La Florido birding trip March 8-11, 2007. | ||||||||||||||
Grebes Pelicans Bitterns & Herons Ibises & Spoonbills Swans,
Geese & Ducks Kites,
Eagles, Hawks & Allies Curassows & Guans Rails,
Gallinules & Coots Plovers & Lapwings Pigeons & Doves |
Parrots & Allies Cuckoos,
Roadrunners & Allies Barn Owls Goatsuckers Swifts Trogons Motmots Woodpeckers & Allies Woodcreepers Vireos & Allies Jays,
Magpies, & Crows |
Solitaires,
Thrushes & Allies Mockingbirds,
Thrashers & Allies Tanagers Emberizine Finches Cardinals,
Grosbeaks & Allies Blackbirds & Allies Includes four birds heard only for a total of 154.. |
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Rio RV Park
8801 Boca Chica Blvd.
Brownsville, TX 78521
Phone: 956-831-4653 or 866-279-1775
Fax: 956-831-0147